AUD/USD rebounds from 0.6800 as upbeat Australian labor market cement hawkish RBA bets

• AUD/USD found buying interest near 0.6800 as tight Australian labor market conditions support more rate hikes from the RBA.
• S&P500 futures have generated decent losses in Europe as a hawkish dot plot by the Fed has provoked caution.
• China’s commerce ministry commented that disputes with Australia are set out to resolve.

The AUD/USD pair has displayed a recovery move from the round-level support of 0.6800 in the European session. The Aussie asset is attracting significant bets as the US Dollar Index (DXY) has sensed selling pressure around 103.40.

S&P500 futures have generated decent losses in Europe as a hawkish dot plot by the Federal Reserve (Fed) has provoked caution. It seems that a skip in the policy-tightening regime by the Fed has failed to produce optimism as the spell has not concluded yet.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell didn’t announce victory over inflation as core inflation is still persistent due to tight labor market conditions and resilience in consumer demand. While announcing the dot plot plan, Fed Powell confirmed two more interest rate hikes this year and cleared that rate cuts are not appropriate.

The US Dollar Index (DXY) has dropped below 103.20 amid solid appeal for risk-sensitive currencies. Later the day, US monthly Retail Sales data (May) will be keenly watched. The economic data is seen contracting by 0.1% vs. an expansion of 0.4% registered in April.    

On the Australian Dollar front, upbeat Employment data has strengthened the need for more interest rate hikes from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The Australian economy added fresh 75.9K payrolls in May against the consensus of 15K. The economy reported a lay-off of 4.3K employees last month. The Unemployment Rate declined to 3.6% vs. the estimates and the former release of 3.7%.

Meanwhile, the commentary from China’s commerce ministry on Australia is that disputes between nations are set out to resolve. Now, the economy will focus on the long-term development of Aussie-Sino relations, seeking common ground while reserving differences. It is worth noting that Australia is the leading trading partner of China and sound relations between them would strengthen the Australian Dollar.